A Sirius Problem
by lilycollinsforever
Summary: "So, Evans. Do you want to be my new best friend?" When Sirius is excluded from the Marauders, it's up to Lily as his new best friend to cheer his spirits. What could be better than a muggle party? Bringing Sirius back to Cokeworth might not be the smartest idea, but it was certainly an entertaining one.


**A Sirius Problem**

**lilycollinsforever**

* * *

The change in the Great Hall was obvious.

It was quieter, calmer, but there was an air of sadness and confusion about the place. The confusion, of course, was directed towards the fact that three Marauders sat in the middle of the Gryffindor table. Three. The Marauders were rarely separated, and never, _never _were they apart during meals.

There wouldn't be so much confusion if it was Peter missing, of course. Lily wondered if anyone would even notice if he were missing, apart from the group of friends he'd attached himself to. In fact, part of the confusion was spurred by the fact that it was _Sirius_ missing, and not Peter.

Lily sat quietly, contently, buttering her toast and trying not to listen to the whispered rumors around her. None of her friends were awake yet, and she needed to get a bit of studying in anyway. Her books and notepads cluttered the table around her, causing students to glare at the amount of space she was taking up, and promptly hurry off to find another spot to sit down at the table when they realized it was _Lily Evans_ they were glaring at.

She heard a cough behind her, but ignored it, figuring it was simply some passer-by.

"Er...Evans..."

She looked up in surprise, not expecting to be addressed so early in the morning. There stood the subject of all the whispers and rumors; Sirius Black. "Black" she responded in greeting, her tone giving away her shock at him speaking to her. They never spoke, they weren't friends. The only Marauder she got along with was Remus, who was practically Sirius' opposite.

He pointed to an area on the bench beside her. "Mind if I sit here?" She nodded and watched as he sat next to her, pushing her books out of the way as he picked up a plate piled with pancakes. "So...", he seemed to be trying to find the words to say, but came to a complete standstill.

"So...?" Lily goaded him onwards.

"Alright, listen Evans," his tone was brisk and he turned to face her. "Clearly I'm in the doghouse with my friends. We're fighting, and right now I don't care to tell you why. We'll be fine in a while, I'd say, but until then I'm not going to sit around on my own like some friendless loner. And despite the fact that practically every girl here would _love_ to have the opportunity to spend more time with yours truly, I need to be around someone who I can talk to. Someone who doesn't just agree with everything I say because of my killer looks, and won't try to make everything they do look 'cute'. Looks like you made the cut. So, Evans. Do you want to be my new best friend?"

He flashed her a huge grin, but she saw the nervousness behind it. His eyes looked sad. He missed his friends, of course he did. Lilys heart tugged; she felt sorry for him. He obviously wasn't used to being alone. Sirius Black always surrounded himself with people, seeing him so alone was...strange.

"Sure," the word tumbled out of her mouth before she'd fully made a decision, but she didn't regret it. She'd probably have come to that decision anyway, she hated seeing people upset.

The grin slipped from his face momentarily. He looked taken aback; he clearly hadn't expected her to say yes. But within seconds, the grin was back, even bigger than before. "Great!" he exclaimed, a million thoughts running through his head so fast that Lily could almost see them in his eyes. "This...this is great. Who needs James anyway? I have my very best friend right here"

He threw his arms up and around her, pulling her into a hug. Lily squeaked at the unexpected gesture and found herself in the tight grip of Sirius Black. Out of the corner of her eye she saw James Potter glaring at the pair of them. She looked away, throwing him out of her vision. She didn't care, she told herself, that he was upset about this. It didn't matter; James had his friends to comfort him, so it was only right that Sirius had someone there for him aswell.

Pushing her out of the hug, Sirius held her at arms length and beamed down at her. "This will be fun, I promise"

* * *

"This is boring," Sirius moaned, throwing himself across the desk.

Lily glared down at him. It was the third class of the day, and all he'd done so far was whine about how boring each class was. "If its so boring," she hissed, "why did you pick Muggle Studies?"

"Why did you?" he threw back. "I mean, in case you haven't noticed, Evans, you're a muggle-born. Don't you know about all of this stuff already?"

She'd known he'd ask this question. "It's an easy O," she whispered. "Besides, I use the class to brush up on my Muggle subjects. I want to keep my options open, you know?"

"Merlin, Lily, you almost had me thinking you were less of a swot than I thought, using this class to get a easy O. But you use it to do _extra_ subjects? Why on earth would you put yourself through that?! What's the point in enduring," he pulled her copybook out of her grasp, glancing at the heading of her work, "_maths_, when you're a witch? I don't get it"

"Because, Black, if I want to go to a Muggle university I need to have grades in normal subjects." She grabbed her copy back. "I didn't just give up my entire life when I came here, you know"

He remained silent, and she continued copying notes from her book. _A concurrency point is a point where 2 or more lines meet. In a triangle there are 4; the centroid, the circumcentre, the orthocentre and the incentre. The centroid id the point of intersection of the media-_

Her pen skidded across the page, effectively ruining her notes. She glared up at Sirius, spotting him grinning at his trick. "Oh, c'mon Evans, that didn't make any sense anyways. I'll admit, you almost had me fooled with that whole 'studying Muggle subjects' thing, but you should really work harder on making it more believable if you're going to try it with someone else" He let out a big laugh, and Lily quickly hushed him, looking around to make sure the professor hadn't noticed.

"Black, just because you don't understand a _subject you've never even heard of before,"_ she seethed, "doesn't mean that it's not real. Maths is actually a really important subject in the Muggle world, and I find co-ordinate geometry quite difficult, so, if you don't mind..." She trailed off

"Actually I do mind, Evans. Let's _talk_, I'm _bored"_

_"_Oh my god, Black, I know you're bored!" she snapped. "Okay, listen, you shut up for the rest of the class and I'll bring you to a muggle party tomorrow night. It'll be fun, too. But you're only coming if you behave"

"Evans! Black! 5 points from Gryffindor, stop talking. I'm surprised at you, Ms. Evans," Professor Panagopoulous shouted across the room, causing everyone to look their way. Lily blushed and muttered an apology, and the Professor turned away, continuing his lecture.

"What do you mean, a muggle party?" whispered Sirius. "How will we get to one of _those_?"

"You're not the only one who can sneak out of the castle," she muttered under her breath. Seeing Sirius' look of shock, she continued. "I go home one or two weekends a month, what did you think I was doing all those times?" She laughed.

"Oh, I thought you just spent all those weekends in your dorm studying," Sirius laughed. "Guess you are less of a swot than I thought after all!" He bumped her shoulder with his, still laughing.

"You thought I studied for _entire weekends_?!" Lily exclaimed, joining in with his laughter. "What kind of person do you think I am, I do have a life, I'll have you know!"

The bell rang, signalling the end of class. After gathering their stuff, Lily and Sirius bounced out of the classroom, giggling and guffawing all the while. "Awh, Evans," Sirius barked, slinging his arm around her shoulder, "You're not bad, you know that?"

She smiled, but she could feel a pair of eyes burning a hole in her back. She didn't have to turn around to know that they were hazel, and they were not happy. Not one bit.

* * *

"So what do I wear to this thing?"

Lily rolled her eyes. Sirius had been talking about the party non-stop. She almost regretted telling him about it, but she knew it was just what he needed. It was the perfect distraction, he hadn't even mentioned James since breakfast. He'd thought about his friends, though; Lily could tell by the sadness that crossed his eyes at random, and how he stopped all conversation when he caught sight of them.

"_Not_ dress robes. If you think about wearing dress robes, I will not hesitate to Crucio you," she laughed lightly and looked up at him to make sure he knew she was joking. "I don't know, wear jeans I guess, and a nice shirt. It's just in someones house, it's nothing fancy"

Sirius nodded. "Jeans..." he muttered, more to himself than to anyone else. "Okay. Yeah, I can do not fancy. And no dress robes. So," he coughed. "Um...Evans. Do you have the Firewhisky sorted or..."

Lily laughed. "No, no firewhisky"

Sirius stopped in his tracks and looked at her in shock. She laughed harder and linked her arm through his, pulling him forward. "Don't worry, Sirius, we may not have Firewhisky, but we have much, _much_ better stuff. There's a lot of things that wizards do well, but alcohol is not one of them. You'll like the stuff I have, I promise."

He relaxed a bit, but Lily could tell he was still slightly uneasy. Sirius was a creature of habit, and just because his habits were wild and crazy, doesn't mean that he actually enjoyed change. They came to a stop outside Slughorns classroom.

"Right, Evans, have fun in Potions. I'm off to Divination. Probably. I doubt that old kook will notice if I'm not there anyway. I'll see you in Transfiguration, yeah?" She nodded in response. "Catch you on the flipside, Evans" He winked and sauntered down the hall.

She was about to turn around and go into the classroom when someone grabbed her elbow and pulled her away.

"Evans"

She recognized the voice, of course, but it didn't sound how she was used to. It was cold and harsher than usual, a huge change from the easy-going lilt it usually carried.

"Potter. What do you want?"

His hazel eyes stared down at her as they had so many times before, but this time they were angry and wild, barely even slits in his face a he glared at her. "Why, exactly, are you and Sirius suddenly best friends?"

She crossed her arms, taking the defensive stance she was so used to when talking to James. "I think the real question is, why aren't you? Aren't you guys supposed to be the ultimate best friends or something? Where's your loyalty, Potter?" Returning his glare, she stood up straighter and held her chin up in attempt to make herself seem intimidating.

He stepped closer to her, suddenly, until his face was almost touching hers. She stepped back in surprise but he moved to, not allowing her to make space between them. "You don't know shit, Evans," he hissed, his voice angrier than she'd ever heard it. "You wouldn't want to be anywhere near him if you knew what he did."

She pushed him away, desperate to make some space between them. "Don't tell me then," she breathed. His anger slipped off his face and was replaced by confusion and shock. "I don't want to know, he needs a friend right now and I'm here for him."

She pushed past him before he could say anymore, but he grabbed her wrist before she could enter the classroom. Turning back, she saw that his face had completely changed. It was softer, he looked nervous and maybe a little hurt. "Just...Evans, just tell me one thing." She didn't respond, but reluctantly waited for him to continue. "You aren't...er...dating, are you?"

Not able to help it, she burst out laughing. "No, God no," she chuckled. "Trust me, I couldn't be less interested in Sirius in that way."

He breathed a sigh of relief and smiled, letting go of her wrist. But it wasn't his usual grin; there was a sadness behind it, a sense of regret. She returned the smile for once, and turned into the classroom, forcing herself to ignore the flutter of her heart and the butterflies in her stomach.

* * *

"So, I've been thinking during Potions," Lily started as she left the classroom and saw Sirius leaning against the wall. Clearly, he'd skipped Divination and had been waiting for her. She continued as she fell into step with him. "I wrote a letter to my parents to tell them you'll be coming with me tomorrow. I'm sure it's okay with them, but I should give them a heads up. I'll just owl it to them later." Sirius nodded. "Also, we need some rules. Most of the people back home don't know about magic, so you'll need to be careful. No mentioning Merlin, or Hogwarts, or wands or anything of the sort, or people will think you're crazy. If you're talking to someone and they mention a word you don't recognize, just go with it. If they ask you something specific, say you forgot you needed to talk to me about something, and then you can ask me about it. All good?"

"All good," he confirmed. They took their seats in McGonagalls classroom. "If your friends don't know about magic, what do you tell them?"

"Two of my friends know; Nadine and Ruby. They're my best friends. The rest - well I'm close to them, very close to a few, but it's hard to trust people with a secret like this, you know? They just think I'm at a boarding school in Scotland, and that I get the train home whenever I can, but it's a pretty long journey so I can't go every weekend. They think my school's called Swan Academy. Its a dumb name, I know, but I came up with it when I was eleven so don't judge. Don't mention anything about a castle, actually, muggle schools-"

"Alright, Evans? Sirius." James passed by them casually. His greeting was cold, but it was something. Turning to face Sirius, Lily saw that he had a huge grin on his face.

"See that?" he whispered to her. "I knew he couldn't ignore me for long."

She grinned along with him, hoping her words about loyalty would help him come to his sense and forgive his best friend.

* * *

"For fucks sake Evans, did we have to leave so _early_?" Sirius yawned.

She rolled her eyes, continuing down the passage leading them to Hogsmeade. "It's better this way, it's easier to sneak out." They opened the door at the end of the passage and came out in Honeydukes. It was too early for the sweet shop to be open, so thankfully no one noticed their presence.

"So what's the plan? How're we getting to Cokeworth?"

"Well we're out of the castle, so we can Apparate. I mean, we can floo if you want - that's what I used to do, before I got my Apparation licence - but we'll have to go from the Hogs Head, and it got...uncomfortable to go in there when I started getting older. The men who go there aren't exactly nice, you know?"

"Yeah, I know. It's fine, I don't mind Apparating"

"Great! You should probably side-along with me, since you don't actually know where we're going. So just," she held out her arm. "hold on there, and we'll be going."

He did as she said, and with a loud _crack_, they were gone.

* * *

They swirled into Lilys sitting room with such force that she tumbled forward onto the overstuffed couch. She wasn't used to Apparating two people, and found that it was quite different than usual.

"Lily!" her mum cried, pulling her into a hug. Glancing at Sirius, she broke out into a huge grin. "And you must be Sirius!" she pulled him into a hug too.

"Er...yeah..." his voice was muffled in her hair. "Thanks for having me, Ms. Evans"

"Please, dear, call me Rose!" the woman exclaimed. "How are you both? Hungry? Tired? You go and get settled in the rooms and I'll make some breakfast. Harold and Petunia are out getting crossaints and French bread, they should be back any minute now!"

She bustled into the kitchen and Sirius and Lily headed upstairs. "Well here's the spare room," Lily exclaimed, opening the door theatrically. "You'll be staying here. My rooms just there if you need anything," she pointed to a room across the hall, slightly to the left of Sirius'. "Oh, and Sirius?" he looked up at her soft tone. "When you see my sister, just keep your mouth shut. Unless she asks you something, just don't say anything. If you absolutely have to, though, try to keep it civil"

"What do you mean, Evans? Of course I'll be nice to your sister"

"You'll understand when you meet her. See you in the kitchen in five minutes?" she smiled, but didn't wait for his answer as she skipped to the familiarity of her own bedroom.

* * *

Sirius was busy scarfing down scrambled eggs when Petunia arrived. "'Ese arr relly goo', Ro'e" he tried to say through a mouthful. The older woman just laughed and started flipping pancakes. "Thanks Sirius."

They heard the front door close and Lilys face brightened immediately. "Dad!" she cried, jumping out of her seat and running into a hug as he entered the kitchen. He chuckled.

"Good to see you Lilykins. Missed me that much this week?"

"More," she mumbled into his shirt. Pulling herself out of the hug, she looked at the girl who had entered with her father. "Hey Tuney," Sirius had never heard her voice sound so nervous. The older girl ignored her, picking up a plate of scrambled eggs and toast and sitting at the table.

While sitting directly across from her, Sirius took the opportunity to study the girl. He supposed she looked like Lily in a way; her eyes were the same shape, but they were blue instead of bright green. They had the same mouth, but hers was pulled into a tight line, whereas Lilys was usually smiling or laughing. There were huge differences between the two, too; Petunia's face was sharper than Lilys, her cheekbones standing out, even more so when she sucked her cheeks in to give a disapproving look. Where Lily was short and curved, Petunia was tall and thin. Her eyes darted around in an untrusting way. If Sirius had passed her in the street, he'd never have guessed that she was Lily Evans' sister.

"What are you looking at?" she snapped. Her voice was high and shrill, and she punctuated each word in a way that made it obvious she was trying to sound like she was above the person she was talking to.

Sirius was shocked that someone who carried such a classy air about her would be so hostile towards her guest. He looked at Lily in confusion, and she widened her eyes at him, reminding him of her plea to be nice.

"Petunia, don't speak to guests that way," the man beside Lily reprimanded. Petunia sniffed. "I'm Harold. You must be Sirius. Welcome to our home" His tone was brisk and he seemed uncomfortable, but he held out his hand for Sirius to shake. He glanced at Lily. "Er...separate rooms, alright?"

Lily blushed in embarrassment, going red. "Dad! Who do you take me for?!"

The man held his hands up in amusement and grinned. "Sorry Lilykins, just doing my fatherly duty"

She huffed and sat in a seat at the table, throwing dagger glares at her father. But Sirius could see, beneath her glares, she was struggling to hide a grin.

* * *

"C'mon, get up, we're going out," Sirius fumbled as his jacket was thrown on him by Lily.

"Wha- Where are we going?"

"To get pizza. You know what pizza is, don't you? Its like a circle of dough, with tomato sauce and cheese and toppings and stuff. I don't know, it sounds disgusting when I say it like that, but they're really really good," she rambled on as she searched desperately for her jumper. "Anyway, there's a really good place down the street. We're going. I'm craving pizza, we never get it at Hogwarts"

"Alright, alright. We'll get pizza, Evans"

She practically dragged him down the street to a small pizzeria on the corner. Plopping into her seat as though it were second nature, she grinned at the waiter as he made his way over.

"Just the usual, Alec," she smiled up at him, handing him her menu without looking at it. "And I think a plain margarita for my friend" He nodded and wrote down the order, making his way to the kitchen.

Lily watched intently as their pizza arrived and Sirius took his first bite. His eyes widened. "Lily, this is the best thing I've ever tasted!"

She laughed and took a bite of her own pizza. "I know, right? We need to teach the house elves how to make these, I miss them so much when I'm at Hogwarts"

They ate in silence, enjoying every single bite. Sirius watch a boy their age walk towards them, but thought nothing of it, figuring he was just going to sit in the booth behind them.

"Lily-Lu!"

Lilys face broke out into a huge grin without even looking at who called her. "Liam!" she cried, jumping out of the booth and turning around to hug him. He lifted her up and spun her around, then set her to the ground, shuffling into the booth after her.

"Liam, this is Sirius, a friend from school. Sirius, this is Liam. He's practically my brother," she elbowed the buy at her side.

"It's nice to meet you Sirius," Liam held out his hand to shake Sirius'. His kind, brown eyes crinkled. "I've never met one of Lucy-Lu's school friends before, I was starting to think she didn't have any!" He gave a loud bark.

"Its..er, nice to meet you too, Luke," Sirius returned, placing his hand firmly in the other boys. He felt guilty, somehow - even though he was fighting with James, he knew his best friend got upset if Lily even talked to other boys, let alone was friends with them. He felt like a traitor, and it was not a comfortable feeling. "Er, if you two are so close...you know her name's not Lucy, right? You just called her Lucy. Her name's Lily."

The pair let out a roar of laughter and Sirius looked around, confused. He hadn't told a joke, or say anything funny. He'd know if he had.

"Oh God...no, I'm sorry, it's probably confusing for you. It's just habit now, no one's asked me why I call her that in years. Right so, I first met Lily when we were...what, five?" he glanced at Lily for confirmation and she nodded. "Anyway, I guess I wasn't paying attention when she introduced herself, because I thought her name was Lucy. We were friends for _two years _before she finally told me that I'd been calling her the wrong name the whole time! Two years!" He let out another peal of laughter.

"I was waiting for you to realize! I mean, everyone else called me Lily!" Lily claimed, laughing along with him. Sirius couldn't help but join in. It was weird for him, he'd never seen Lily so carefree. He'd never heard anything about her childhood either - it seemed like he was learning about a whole new person.

"So, Liam," Lily continued. "Are you going to Georgia's party tonight?"

"Yeah of course, I've to go over later to help her set up."

"Oh good, will you let her know I'm bringing someone? You know how bad my signal is at my school, so I couldn't text her or anything, and I'd hate to just show up with someone!"

Liam chuckled. "Lily, you're too polite for your own good. Georgia's not going to care, you know how crazy her parties get. She expects random people to show up anyway, it's fine!"

"Alright...but tell her anyway, okay? Just to be sure"

"Sure, Lils, I'll do that. So, Sirius, tell me about yourself. You must be pretty special if Lily-Lu actually brought you back to little ol' Cokeworth"

"Er...not much to tell really," he looked at Lily, panicked, not sure what he might say that would give away that he wasn't a muggle. "I go to school with Lily at er...Swan Academy. I, um, live near London..." he trailed off, realizing there wasn't much more he could say without mentioning magic.

Liam shot him a sympathetic look, obviously thinking he was shy. "What about family? Got any brothers or sisters?"

It was a simple question, but Sirius' whole exterior darkened. "One. A brother. He's a little shit, but my parents absolutely adore him," he shuddered.

"I'm, er, guessing you don't like them?"

"No," he grimaced. "They're all a bunch of de-"

"Racists!" Lily cried. "I mean...um...Sirius' family. They're terribly racist. It's awful."

"Oh..." Liam nodded. "Yeah, that's terrible. I'm sorry, Sirius."

He looked from Liam to Lily to Liam again. He had no idea what they were talking about. "It's, er, alright. I don't live with them anymore. I live with the Potters"

"Wait a minute," Liam held up a hand. "Potter. As in James Potter? I haven't heard that name in a while!" He grinned. "Is he still a - what did you call it? Arrogant toe?"

"Toe-rag actually," Lily sniffed. Sirius laughed at the memory.

"Merlin, do you remember that Lils?! How things have changed, eh?" Lily shot him a look and he realized his mistake. Liam, however, didn't seem to notice.

"Oh, the stories Lily used to tell about him! I'd tell you about them, but you were probably around when they happened."

"Oh get outta here you," Lily grinned, shoving him lightly, "I'll see you tonight, yeah?"

"Yeah, see you later Lucy-Lu," he ruffled her hair and she scrunched up her face, before he left the pizzeria.

"He's decent," Sirius commented.

"Yeah," Lily chewed her pizza thoughtfully. "You'd like him y'know. If you gave him a chance. He's a lot like you and James"

"Hmph. Doubt that. You wouldn't like him if he were anything like James"

"That's not true! Just because he doesn't go around bully-"

"He doesn't do that anymore. You know that, and you need to stop using it as a defense."

"Whatever," Lily grumbled. "Eat your pizza"

* * *

By the time they arrived at the party, it was already crowded with people. They were everywhere; in the house, in the garden, some were even smoking up in their cars. People were laughing, stumbling, talking with overzealous hand gestures and bright eyes. Lily walked into the house as though she lived there, and Sirius trailed after her, feeling more out of place than he ever had. He knew no one at the party, and though he was not surprised by this fact, he was surprised by the nervousness that clutched his heart when he found himself in unknown territory.

"Here, drink this," Lily shouted over the music, handing him a red plastic cup with a clear liquid in it. "You might want to add a bit of this in, too." She poured a brown fizzy drink into the cup.

"Oh, hey, I know what that is! It's coke!" cried Sirius, happy to find that he knew what at least one thing was at the party. "Why are you mixing coke with water?"

"It's not water," Lily laughed, picking up a bright blue drink for herself. "It's called vodka. Be careful, it's a lot stronger than Firewhisky, but it's a lot nicer too. You'll love it"

Sirius took a sip, and the liquid burned his throat, but Lily was right; he loved it "Where can you get this stuff? I need to bring some back to Hogwarts!"

But Lily wasn't listening, and was glancing over his shoulder. "Georgia!" she waved. "Nadine, Ruby, Collie, over here!" Sirius looked over his shoulder, seeing a group of girls approach them. He grinned. This was exactly his comfort zone.

The girls reached them, giggling and kissing Lily on both cheeks. There were shouts of "Good to see you!"s and "I missed you!"s, but most were lost within the music.

"Alright, alright, I believe introductions are in order! Sirius," she turned, addressing the boy at her side. His grin grew wider as he eyed each of the pretty, smiling girls. Lily gestured towards a tall, dark brunette haired girl with dark eyes and long legs. Her cheeks were chubby and her face was happy. She was swaying slightly and had a bottle of some brown drink. "This is Georgia. This is her house, don't you love it? She throws the best parties, they're all anyone talks about!" The girl giggled and wrapped Sirius in a warm hug.

"I'm glad you could make it!" she sang. "Have you met Colleen?" Sirius shook his head and Georgia pushed forward a pretty blonde, with shy eyes and a pretty smile. "She prefers to be called Collie"

Sirius smiled at the girl, shaking her hand awkwardly before Lily spoke up again. "And I've told you about Nadine and Ruby, right?" Sirius vaguely recalled her mentioning them the previous day. He noticed Georgia moving away in the corner of his eye, and Collie trailed after her. "They're my best friends! This is Nadine," she pointed at a tall girl with Auburn hair. It was darker than Lilys, but there was no doubt that the two looked very similar. "And Ruby," her finger moved towards a short girl with light brown hair."

"It's lovely to meet you both!" he shouted over the music.

"You too," the brunette - Ruby? - shouted back. "So, you're from Lilys school, right? It must be pretty weird to be here, around all us...what are we called again?" she pondered, glancing at Lily. "Oh! I've got it! Muggles!"

Sirius' eyes widened in disbelief as the girl said the word, but his memory peaked as he remembered Lily informing him that Nadine and Ruby knew everything. "Yeah, it's a bit strange," he chuckled. "I'll probably end up following Lily around the entire night, considering I don't know anyone, or how to talk to them"

"Nonsense!" Nadine cried. "Come on, I'll introduce you to everyone!" Grabbing his hand, she pulled him away and into the crowd.

* * *

"Have you seen Sirius?" Lily shouted at one of the many bodies on the 'dance floor', which was really just an area of Georgia's sitting room.

"Who?! Is that even a name?" they roared back. Lily shook her head and moved on, trying to keep a sharp eye out for the messy black-haired boy, though her vision was hazy. She glanced to the corner of the room, and took a double take when she realized that the boy she'd been searching for was sitting in the corner, looking into a hand mirror.

"Sirius!" she screamed, shuffling over to him in her heels. "What are you doing? Are you looking at yourself in the _mirror?" _he shook his head but she just laughed. "Come on, I haven't seen you in like two hours, lets go have _fun_!"

He shoved the mirror into his pocket. "Was no' lookin in a mirrr' Evans," he slurred. "Was no'."

"Alright, you silly goose," she giggled, grabbing his hand, "Let's dance!" She led him to the makeshift dancefloor, into a small group of teenagers who were awkwardly shuffling, jerking and jumping. She mentioned a few names to him but they barely registered in his mind.

Lily swayed to the music, giggling and grinning, leaning against her friends and shouting in their ears. Out of the corner of her eye, she thought she saw a familiar four-eyed face with a mop of brown hair, but when she turned, she saw no one. Turning her attention back to her friends, she tried to calm her beating heart.

"Evans" her heartbeat shot straight back up. Turning around, her suspicions were confirmed.

"J-James? What are you doing here?"

"I...er..." he ruffled his hair. "Sirius contacted me. He told me to come, I assumed it was okay with you. I mean, is it? Okay? Where is Sirius anyway?"

"What do you mean, Potter, he's right -" Sirius was nowhere to be seen. "Fucking hell, where's he gone now? Has anyone seen Sirius?" she addressed the group surrounding her. Liam spoke up.

"I think he might've," he hiccuped, "gone upstairs."

"Great, thanks Li, talk later, yeah?"

The boy nodded in confirmation and Lily and James hastened up the stairs. "I swear, this boy is a nightmare when he's drunk," she ranted. "I've been losing track of him all night, and when I find him he just runs away as soon as my back's turned. I've spent half the night looking for him! If I wasn't having such a good time besides that, I'd be seriously pissed"

"Siriusly?" James joked.

"Oh, shutup Potter," she laughed. "Let's find your friend."

* * *

"Merlin, is he dead?!"

"Nah, just passed out. It's not unusual for him."

The pair stared at their friend, completely unconscious laying across Georgia's parents bed.

"So," she placed her hands on her hips. "What's the plan? How do we get him out of here? I mean, you must have some idea, seeing as this is obviously not the first time he's done this"

"Er..." he rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, we usually just leave him there."

"James!" she reprimanded, slapping his shoulder with the back of her hand. "We are _not_ just leaving him here!"

He rubbed his shoulder in surprise. "Ouch! Obviously we're not going to leave him here, I'm just telling you what we _usually_ do! Look...I...we...er...oh fuck it"

With a grunt, he heaved the unconscious boy over his shoulder. "Okay," he panted, with obvious difficulty. "We need to...get out of here. Your house or...mine?" He winked and chuckled to himself as he started following Lily down the stairs. Exiting the house, Sirius murmured three words. "James...best...friend..."

* * *

Her mind was hazy, but she was happy. Deliriously happy. She thought the alcohol had hit her before, but obviously that wasn't true. She struggled to keep up with James, but her feet kept stumbling and tripping over themselves. Stupid feet.

"James..." she lulled. "My feet are hating me and you need to wait"

"What?" he turned around, confusion written on his face. "Oh Merlin, Lily, don't tell me you're drunk too"

"Nope!" she lied, popping the 'p'. "I'm totally okay. I know," she pointed at him, looking at him under a furrowed brow, "how to handle myself, thank you very much"

"Okay, Lils, I'm sure you do. Come on, then," he looped his arm through hers, pulling her along. She looked up at him, and quickly took a double take. He looked like a completely different person. Or rather, he looked the same, but something had definitely changed - and she liked it. She'd never been so drawn to him before.

"Wait, James, stop." They came to an abrupt halt.

Before he could say a thing, she pointed her feet upwards and brushed her lips against his. She hesitated, looking for some semblance of acceptance or rejection, but James stood as still as a statue, as though moving would cause her to change her mind. Taking the opportunity, she pushed herself further upwards, smashing her lips against his.

"Lily," he murmured against her mouth. "Lily, we can't do this"

She pushed herself away. "Well why not? Are you telling me that after all these years, you're done? That I was right? It was all about the chase" She started to walk ahead but he grabbed her arm, stopping her in her tracks.

"No! Merlin, Lily, no, it's not like that! I just...you're not in your right state of mind right now. And I respect you too much to take advantage of you like that. Also," he continued, shifting Sirius on his shoulder, "Sirius is pretty heavy, and I'm afraid dropping him might kill the mood."

She laughed, looping her arm through his once more. "Alright, Potter, you're off the hook just this once. Let's get him home"

* * *

The sun on her skin burned, and it felt as though someone had shot a bullet through her head. The regret was immediate as she opened her eyes, squinting in the all-too bright sunlight, and fumbled around her dresser for a glass of water.

She felt awful.

"Alright, Evans?"

"Gah!" she screeched, throwing a pillow at the unannounced speaker. She balled herself into her duvet, shielding herself from the outside world and the mistakes she was sure she'd made. Memories of the previous night had been coming back in waves, but she couldn't quite remember everything. She remembered laughing with her friends, dumping water over Liams head in jest, standing on top of the kitchen table and singing, along with many other embarrassing moments.

"Oh, don't be like that, Evans," another voice cooed. She felt someone heavy set down next to her, and felt a hand place itself on her waist. "We're all friends here! Take some sobering draught and get up outta that bed of yours" The voice came from the other side of the room.

"Why are there TWO of you?!" she shouted from under the shelter of her duvet. She winced at the volume of her voice, but found it necessary to shout through the layers of her cover in order to be heard. She prayed that they'd stop talking soon, or bring her some painkillers at the very least.

"Don't tell me you don't remember," she felt the body behind her chuckle.

"As a rule, I don't remember anything before twelve in the morning. My brain doesn't work until then."

There was a pause. "Evans...it's three in the afternoon"

"_What?!_" she shrieked, throwing the covers off herself. She covered her face with her hands, shaking her head. "Oh, no no no no! We're going to be late! Our cover will be blown! I'll be stopped from ever coming to Cokeworth again - or worse, expelled!"

Rough, calloused hands pried her fingers away from her, and her eyes met James'. Memories flowed back to her like a waterfall - the kiss.

"No, no, no!" she screamed again, her face going red with embarrassment. "Oh God, er, we need to leave. We need to get back to the castle, or they'll find out! Merlin James, how did you get here anyway? No, nevermind," she ranted, throwing the covers off herself and gathering her belongings. "We need to get moving, we need to go. Now." Seeing neither boy move, she threw up her arms. "Get moving!"

The pair scattered out of the room. "I'll meet you in the living room in fifteen minutes!" she called after them.

* * *

After quickly changing and exchanging heartfelt goodbyes with her parents, she stood in the living room with the two boys. "I'll see you in a week or two!" she called to her parents. "You guys can apparate yourselves, right?" she asked the Marauders at her side. They nodded. "Alright, see you in Hogsmeade!"

With a _crack_, they were gone.

* * *

"Could you have _been_ any louder coming out of the passage, Padfoot?" James laughed as they entered the common room. "I'm surprised we didn't get caught!"

"Hey, if you can't handle me at my worst, you don't deserve me at my best!" the boy in question cried. "A muggle girl said that to me last night. No idea why, though"

"Merlin, Sirius," Lily rolled her eyes. "If you've upset _any_ of my friends, I will _kill_ you"

"You can't kill me if you can't catch me!" he shrieked, running up the common room stairs. "I'll see you both in the morning. Possibly. Goodnight!"

"It's four in the afternoon!" James shouted up the stairs. Shaking his head, he chuckled. "Absolute nutter."

Lily looked around, realizing the common room was empty. "Er...he has the right idea, actually. I'm pretty exhausted myself" She forged a yawn and tried to hop quickly up the stairs, but he grabbed her wrist. Again. Merlin, how did he manage to stop her like that_ every time._

"You're not really going to pretend nothing happened, are you?" his face looked like a kicked puppy dog.

"I-I'm not pretending anything James. I'm just really tired."

"Right. Sure. I believe you." He let go of her hand, a sour expression on his face.

"James - really"

He wouldn't look at her.

They stood in silence.

"I should go-"

She grabbed his face with her hands and pulled him towards her. "Thanks for coming to the rescue last night, James. I really appreciate it," she breathed. Their lips brushed with every movement of hers, and he closed his eyes, letting out a low groan. She smirked. "Goodnight"

Running up the stairs, she shut the door and pressed her back against it, smiling. The butterflies in her stomach refused to settle, but for once she didn't mind.

All she could think was; _Thank God for Sirius Black_

* * *

**_A/N: C'est finit! Sorry if it's not what you expected._**

**_In case you didn't guess, the fight was based on when Sirius put Snapes life at risk. Not that it was obvious, I just think that'd be one of the only things that the Marauders would get in a serious fight over._**

**_Reviews are very appreciated._**

**_Until next time x_**


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